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Character Analysis Of Connie From 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

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Connie from “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates represents a situation opposite of that which Pecola is subject to. Connie “knew she was pretty and that was everything” (Seagull Reader 337). She had “long dark blonde hair that drew anyone’s eye to it” (337). She lived with her parents and sister in a comfortable home. She went shopping with her best girl friends. She was everything that Pecola laid awake dreaming about at night. She was seemingly everything that society praised in a fifteen year old girl.
Connie’s life, as easy as it may seem, was not free of confusion and controversy. Her social life and her life at home were in constant opposition. The things she wore “looked one way at home and one way when …show more content…

He appears to be a normal boy around the age of Connie and she “liked the way that he dressed, the way that they all dressed” (343). His appearance as a popular teenager allows him to create a connection with Connie and to gain a little bit of her trust.
As Connie talks with Arnold friend more his true motives become clear. He wants Connie to get in the car with him. Arnold tells Connie that he “took special interest in [her], such a pretty girl, and [he] found out all about [her]” (344). At first, this is taken by her as flattery. As the story progresses though, this comment becomes more menacing. Not only does Arnold know her name but he knows a remarkable amount about her family as well. His appearance as well isn’t as genuine as Connie originally thought he was “much older … thirty, maybe more” (346).
Eventually, Arnold Friend is able to make Connie feel powerless enough to give into his demand and leave with him. At this point in the story it is apparent that it is not only a ride in the car, but rather Arnold kidnapping Connie. The importance of this story in not the ending but rather the fault in Connie’s perception that allowed the ending to happen. This is a result of the original little bit of trust that Arnold gains from Connie. This trust is the only factor keeping Connie from shutting the door, running inside and calling the cops right from the …show more content…

She is a vain girl trusting in the power of both beauty and conformity. Arnold is able to come off as normal simply because he is able to conform for society’s view of a cool teenage guy. This ability gains him access to Connie.
When analyzing Connie and what becomes of her, it is easy to dismiss her misfortunes due to her young age of fifteen. This dismissal though, neglects to realize that the actual problem with Connie is not of her own accord. She is simple shoved to this mindset by the popular culture around her. This society connects a look with a typical teenage guy and therefore Connie does too. This uncovers a deep problem with popular culture: it can easily be used to hide behind. Connie uses it to gain popularity in every situation, whereas Arnold uses it to mask his age, danger, and gain

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In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there are many theories as to who Arnold Friend is and what his role. The story does not introduce Arnold till the middle and end of the story when Arnold Friend and Ellie Oscar, his friend, decides to pull up to Connie’s house trying to be gentle, but threatening at the same time. The tone sets the mood of the story, the way he talks is suave, so he doesn’t scare her as much but you could sense a little of annoyance in his voice when she refuses. He asks her to come ride with him, but then starts to threaten her family so she would get out the house and be with him.

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In the United States today, the name Benedict Arnold is a known synonym for “traitor.” During most of the war, he impressed both the British and the Americans with his skills and strengths. He was once a Patriot, but he is now known as one of the most cowardly traitors of America. He won many significant battles for the Americans, but that does not mean that he is a hero. He turned to the British for his own selfish reasons and his actions were unfair to the American people.

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Film Review Essay - “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and Smooth Talk “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates. The setting was in a suburban area in the 1960’s, America. The plot of the short story surrounds a teenage girl named Connie. Connie was going around the block experiencing the “Glories” of what a maturing teen girl could do, while at the same time having a poor relationship with her family.

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This change is more than obvious when Arnold confronts her with a decision to save her family’s lives and sacrifice her own and Connie chooses to save the family that she despises. For Connie to save these people that she calls her family and sacrifice her own life that she normally sees as superior to others’ is of utmost importance in perceiving that Connie has undergone a momentous change as a person. Connie goes from wishing her mother dead at the start of the story to exchanging her own life for her’s. Although Connie is perceived as a pretentious brat at the beginning of the story, she undergoes a change in personality, and acts in spite of all her previous beliefs

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One major clue as to who Arnold really is, is that he was at the restaurant, a popular place for teenagers to hang out (Oates 1). This makes it seem like he was at the restaurant specifically to find a young girl to manipulate, which was most likely the case. He is also faking his whole demeanor when he is at Connie's house, which is proven by the author writing “He stood there so stiffly relaxed, pretending to be relaxed” (Oates 5). His actions are all insincere in the beginning, and this is revealed later when his demeanor begins to change. He starts to threaten Connie, demanding that he comes with her or he will hurt her family (Oates 8).

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However, this is countered when Connie notes that “he was much older—thirty, maybe more” (315), a fact that frightens her. What Arnold is to Connie is a challenge of her want to be an adult, and a trail of her ability to deal with adult issue. Such as a man who singles her out sexual reason. Her wish to be an adult is something she seeks while passively avoiding it. Her avoidance is marked by day dreams of puppy love romance, like a typical teenager; yet, her attractive flaunt to be mature is presented as if she seeks to be an

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At first glance, we are made to believe that Connie is a static character through her infuriating naivety and cliché persona. When we delve into the story we see the altruistic and sincere characteristics, which

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In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl, who does not necessarily get along with her family. During the week, she often times goes to a shopping plaza with some of her friends. However, they sneak across the highway to go to a popular diner where the older crowd hangs out at. At home, Connie is often times arguing with her family. One day her family is invited to her aunt's barbecue but Connie refuses to go.

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Despite her interaction with adulthood, Connie is still a child when she faces harm because she cries out for her mother. She couldn’t handle Arnold on her own like a responsible adult would have done. Her broken identity completely fractures when Arnold threatens her. She argues with her mother and sister, and neglects family but when she’s hurt she relies on them.

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Instead of realizing the danger that she was in, Connie was focused on what Arnold Friend was wearing and how attractive he was. Connie’s obsession with finding her own sexuality overpowered her gut feeling of danger. In an analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Barbara Wiedemann discusses how the antagonist Arnold Friend is based upon serial killer Charles Schmid, who murdered several young girls during the 1960s. In the analysis, Wiedemann

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He mysteriously knows where Connie lives and invites himself to drive over to her house. Arnold assumes Connie’s friendship by convincing her that he knows everything and everybody, “I know your name and all about you” (Oates 201) when she never told him her name in the first place. He knew her friends, their names as well as what she did the night before. He also knew exactly where Connie’s family was, at a BBQ at Connie’s aunt Tille’s.

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Dolls typically socialize young girls to be women and to be mothers, which alludes to the irony of Pecola who gives birth to her father’s child. Just like how everyone else around her treats her, Pecola is despised within her own home. Her parents suffer from the belief that they themselves are unworthy of love and as a result, their children have to bear with that self-hatred, especially Pecola. Pauline, Pecolas’s mother, is a domestic servant who believes in the superiority of white people including her employer and their children. But failing to love herself and who she is, Pauline fails to love her own child Pecola.

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John Locke, a famous philosopher, once said,“I have always thought the actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.” People are not always who they seem, and their true self is revealed through their actions. In Joyce Carol Oates’s suspenseful short story, ”Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” antagonist, Arnold Friend, uses faustian tactics such as flattery, fear, and lies to manipulate and overpower the protagonist, Connie. Equivalent to the Devil, Arnold Friend uses flattery to deceive Connie. Throughout the story it is evident that Connie is suffering from a deficient amount of attention from home.

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This interpretation of the story explains how Connie simply fell prey to the common theme of men acting as predators in society. Therefore, Connie had no say in her fate, so she just decided to go quietly with him. However, this theory completely disregards the psychological disorders that Connie has. Connie did not go quietly with Arnold because he was a dominating male. Instead, Connie left due to her numerous unconscious mental problems.

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